Australian student narrowly misses Oregon mass shooting

An Australian basketball player has narrowly escaped the Oregon shooting tragedy where at least 10 people were killed at a community college.

Staci Richardson, from Echuca in Victoria's north, was on his way to Oregon's Umpqua Community College, when Chris Harper Mercer, 26, opened fire in a building he was meant to be attending class in about 10.30am on Thursday.

If the 20-year-old hadn't been running late, he would have been caught up in the horrific mass shooting at the rural college in Roseburg.

Staci Richardson Source: Facebook

Staci was just five minutes away from the college when a friend, texted him to say a gunman was on the loose.

"We were just about to jump in the car when we got a text from a teammate, saying ‘Stay away from the campus. There’s been a shooting’,” he told the Hearld Sun.

He told the newspaper how the gunman had lined students up and made them beg for their lives.

"He was asking them, ‘How bad do you want to live?’ and then as they begged he would just shoot them anyway,” he said.

Other witnesses have said that Mercer questioned victims whether or not they were Christian before shooting them.

He reportedly had three weapons, a long gun and handguns.

Law enforcement officials have identified the killer as 26-year-old Chris Harper Mercer. Photo: 7News/Supplied

Staci took to Facebook after the terrifying attack, which left 13 people dead and another 20 people injured, to reassure his friends he was safe.

"To all my family and friends back home, I am safe and my team is safe. Thoughts and prayers go out to all the victims and their families that were involved in today’s tragedy. I love you all."

His father, Robin Richardson, said while he was relieved to hear that his son was safe, he was grieving for families who had lost their loved ones.

Mr Richardson said it was lucky and unusual that Staci, who has been playing with the college's Riverhawks team since 2014, had been running late.

"It's not like him to be running late," he told the Hearld Sun. "We're quite religious, so we are just counting it as a blessing."

“He appears to be an angry young man who was very filled with hate,” the law enforcement official told the New York Times.

A man who gunned down more than 10 people at a community college in Oregon forced his victims to reveal their religion before he began his slaughter. Photo: AP

Twitter user Bohdi said her grandmother was at the scene.

"The shooter was lining people up and asking if they were christian," Bodhi posted.

"If they said yes, then they were shot in the head. If they said no, they were shot in the legs."

Bohdi said her grandmother tried to perform CPR on her friend, but it was too late.

Student Kortney Moore, 18, told local media she was sitting in a writing class when a shot came through the window.

She saw her teacher get shot in the head.

Officers responded at around 10:40 am (US time) to reports of a shooting at the college. Photo: The News-Review

Ms Moore was lying with people who had been shot, she said.

Another witness, Kendra Gordon, told Fox News she was in the room next door to where the shooting occurred. Ms Gordon described the moment her friend was shot.

A gunman has killed 13 people and injured 20 in a mass shooting at a community college in Oregon. Photo: AP

A Douglas County commissioner told CNN that the shooter had been taken into custody. Photo: Facebook

"We didn't think it was a gunshot, we thought it was a firecracker. And then we heard another one."

"One of the students in my class, she went out and checked it.

"She got shot twice, one in the arm, and in the stomach. And she came back and told us to lock the door, shut the lights off. And we sat there for 20 minutes waiting for police to show up."

15 people were killed and another 20 wounded at a shooting on Thursday at a community college in Oregon. Photo: Supplied

One of the wounded was a female who had been shot in the chest. Photo: File photo

Officers responded at around 10:40 am to reports of a shooting at the college.

A single tweet from student Kayla Marie (@KP_KaylaMarie) read:

"Students are running everywhere. Holy God."

Authorities told media that the shooter has been pronounced dead, it is not yet confirmed how he died.

Oregon Governor Kate Brown said she expressed: "Profound dismay and heartbreak in this tragedy."

"Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families. We're holding the community of Douglas County in our hearts today," Ms Brown said.